A Florida councillor accused his city mayor of running a “banana republic” after shutting off some residents’ utilities amid the coronavirus pandemic, in an epic tirade that has been watched millions of times online.
Commissioner Omari Hardy delivered the fiery speech at the tail end of a city council meeting in Lake Worth Beach, Fla., last Thursday, after other lawmakers refused his request to hold an earlier emergency meeting to prepare for the COVID-19 outbreak. “We cut off people’s utilities this week, and made them pay what could have been their last cheque to us to turn their lights on in a global health pandemic!” he shouted at other lawmakers in the meeting, which was captured on the city’s YouTube channel.